Hanon is subjective. I think it is a waste. Some may say that it is essential. The only way to gain flexibility is to keep playing. It is like the same principle of weight training, the only way you will gain strength and muscle mass is to keep lifting weights. So never stop playing, but do not practice too much. Because too much can be harmful.

Hope this helps,

-JG

p.s. avoid drastic tempurature changes, drastic changes are not good for the hands let alone the body. I live in Wisconsin where one day it can be 75 F and then the next 40 F. But I suppose that in Malta it is pretty constant in tempurature.

_________________Madam, what makes you think that I play with my hands?

Thanks for your help, it was greatly appreciated. Lately i decided to start studying Bach's Two-part Inventions; I will study them instead of Hanon, since Hanon isn't really useful... i just can't imagine why my piano teacher is making me study them, then...

But lately i'm getting kinda obsessed with wanting to make my hands more flexible, i'm practicing 2 hrs almost every day, hanon and clementi's sonatinas but i'm not really seeing any effect after 4 years... i read about sleeping with corks between my fingers, but it sounds ridiculous. Dunno...

I think if you practised 2 hours hanon and clementi, for 4 years and there is not too much progress, you need to change something.

Maybe you could check whether your fingers and, very important, hand wrists are really loose while playing so that nothing tenses up. That's in my opinion very important but often not the case. If there is something stiff, it won't get more flexible, no matter how long you try this way. Like Chopin said "Soupleness above all". It is easy to say someone to play "relaxed", because that is not something one needs to do, it comes through undoing something. Better replace "relaxed" by "release". Hands are most flexible if all muscles are released.

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